The Pain of Summer Heat
by Sam-Jo2013
Summary: Okay, so in this fic Loki is an Avenger. Roll with that thought, kk? :P Now, thanks to a mishap with some misplaced electricity, Tony's tower now has no way to cool itself down. And with New York facing its hottest day of the year, everyone is as agitated as can be. But wait, Tony is...a billionaire...should he not have a pool somewhere in his tower? A bonding fic
1. Chapter 1

**Alright, so my first Avengers fic. Yeah~ xD Okay, so some things in this chapter is not technically correct, that I know of. But, for the sake of my story, I wrote it like that anyways. :P I hope you enjoy.~**

"It's_ hoooooooooooooooooooot_," came the childlike whine from the mouth of Clint as he threw his head back to rest it on the couch he was sitting on. Currently all the Avengers were sprawled out in Tony's main living area of his tower, each one wearing various faces of annoyance at their current predicament.

"Thanks for the rather _redundant_ update Barton," Loki replied, not even trying to hide the patronizing, condescending tone that oozed from his words. Clint snapped his head back up and met Loki's glare from across with one of his own.

"Hey, don't get angry with me just because you are melting, _Popsicle_" Clint snapped back, pointing out that Loki was affected by the heat the worst, drenched in sweat even though he wore nothing but shorts. Loki snarled at him, but lacked the energy to keep the argument going.

"Guys, maybe if we went to different rooms then there would not be as much body heat compacted into one space and-," began Bruce, attempting to placate the situation, but Clint just cut him off.

"You know we _can't _Bruce. It is protocol that we stay in the tower and together when Fury cannot reach us right away in case of emergencies," he coolly replied. Turning to Tony he grumbled, "This is all_ your_ fault" and crossed his arms, giving the genius a cold stare.

"Hey! Don't blame me!_ Point Break_ over here is the one who fried my systems. Blame him!" argued Tony, pointing at Thor who was lying on the floor a few feet away, staring at the ceiling fan and looking as if he was trying with all his might to get it moving by mental power alone.

"I was put to the task by Lady Romanoff. My honor was at stake," boomed Thor, not even bothering to move to face anyone.

"Yes, well, your little lightning show blew up my arc reactor that powered my tower, Goldilocks. And on the _hottest_ day that New York has seen this summer too," grumbled Tony as he once again wiped sweat out of his eyes. He turned to Natasha, pointing at her from across the room. "And _you. You _are equally to blame. Who tells the God of _Thunder_ to put his hand on my arc reactor and channel electricity into it to see if it would speed up the air conditioner!?"

"Well, I told you my room was hot. You did not listen, although that is not a surprise, so I was forced to take things into my own hands. Thus, fault goes back to you," came her cool reply, eyes taking on a defiant glint that practically hissed 'If you do not fix this, you are_ dead'_.

"No, I think Patchy the Pirate is to blame; making us stay here."grumbled Tony, but no one bought the obvious attempt to pointing the blame on someone else.

"All this arguing is just making the room hotter," interjected Steve's authoritative voice. "We all agree that Tony is to blame." Ignoring Tony's shout of protest, he continued. "Therefore, Tony _will_ find a way to fix this" and fixed Tony with a pointed look.

"But, its like, a _bazillion degrees_ in the arc room!" complained Tony, looking like a child that was just about to throw a fit.

"Stark, I will personally_ destroy_ your drink supply you hold so _dear_, and continue to do so to any that you buy to replenish it after that if _you. do. not. fix. this._" hissed Loki, who was unsuccessfully trying to keep his long hair from sticking to his face. Tony glanced at him, then decided to stick out his tongue. Loki's eyes flashed dangerously, so Bruce decided to cut in.

"Tony, I looked at the designs of this tower when you told me to choose where to put my lab. If I remember correctly there should be-," began Bruce, but was once again cut off, this time by Tony.

"Ah, yeah, that was destroyed in a failed experiment. The calculations were all wrong, trajectory was off, the works," he quickly said, waving off Bruce's confused look.

"Does this heat muddle that weak mind of yours, Stark? Do you forget who I am? You are telling a lie, and a_ weak_ one at that," hissed Loki. Tony winced and looked every bit like he was regretting giving the God of Lies permission to stay in his tower.

"What should there be?" asked Natasha, looking at Bruce. Bruce glanced at Tony, still confused about why he would want to keep it a secret, but could see no harm in revealing it. In fact, it would solve all their problems for what he could see.

"There is a pool in one of the lowest levels of the tower," he slowly revealed, and immediately felt uncomfortable when every head turned his direction, all but Tony's. There was a collective silence, one that could be characterized as tense...or...angry, and then Clint exploded.

"A _POOL_! A_ freakin' pool_ just levels below us and you have us roasting up here?" he yelled at Tony. Natasha looked like she wanted nothing more than to strangle him. Even Steve seemed agitated, giving Tony an unforgiving glare. Thor and Loki on the other hand looked confused, although Loki was trying to hide with an air of indifference about him, and a bored expression on his face.

"What is this pool you speak of?" Thor asked. No one answered immediately, all still consumed with anger at Tony, until Bruce sighed and said,

"It is almost like a huge bathtub. It has water in it. Cool water. Essentially, it is to be used on hot days...like today."

Now every single set of eyes was giving Tony a death glare. Tony loved when the attention was directed towards him...but when it was 2 Gods, 2 master assassins, a super soldier, and a Hulk, and they were all upset, well, he could do without.

"Guys, come on. I thought we were all enjoying it up here?" he said, giving a trademark smile, but immediately dropped it when everyone's mood seemed to sour even more. His eyes followed Steve as he stood up, and he felt is heart drop when he heard the words:

"Guys, we are going swimming."

**Okay, so I can not decide whether this fic should go in the angsy/friendship route or humor. Any ideas? Also, review and critique please! :D oh! And if you have any new fic ideas, feel free to leave them in a review. ;)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay, so this chapter is not at all what I was envisioning. I have a weird way of writing. I look at my computer screen, set my hands on the key board, and hope that words come out. And here is the product. **

**A big thanks to all those that followed this story. It was originally supposed to be a one-shot, but somehow it is now a 3 chapter fic (maaaaaybe more, depends). O.o**

**OH! And an even bigger thanks to those that reviewed! **

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**Chapter 2**

"I'm shocked that you even _built_ stairs, Tony," yelled Clint from somewhere behind the inventor's head. Despite his mood, Tony smirked.

"Yes, well, not as shocked as I am at what you are wearing, _Octopus_," he yelled back, referring to Clint's choice of swim wear (purple shorts with blue, green, and orange octopuses covering them), and had to hold back a curse when he missed a step. He glared at Loki's magic ball of green light like it was its' fault.

"It's_ Loki's_ fault! I had to search my room in the _dark_!" Clint shouted, and shot said god a murderous glare. "You did that on _purpose_, didn't you?"

They had all been provided a little ball of green light by Loki to go get their swim attire from their rooms, and Clint's had conveniently went out right when he got to his room. He had to stumble halfway back to the living room in the dark, ramming his feet into random objects, hitting walls, etc. until he saw the glow of Bruce's light ahead of him.

"The_ true_ question is why you would own such attire?" replied Loki in a smooth voice, giving an amused smirk when Clint's face turned a rather interesting shade of red.

"They were on sale," he mumbled. Loki barked a laugh, and the only thing keeping Clint from strangling the god was Tony's voice announcing,

"Well, _here_ we are."

The door opened to show a sleek marble floor of a small room that was surrounded by clear, glass windowed walls that allowed for viewing of everything below.

There was two sections to the room exactly, the lower and upper section. The stairs had deposited the Avengers into the upper section. This part of the room seemed to be a place to hang out, and looked to have a bar, though since the place did belong to Tony that was no surprise. A large flat screen TV was embedded into the only concrete wall in the room, and plush couches surrounded it. A small table centered between the two, and the bar was located in the far left corner. In the right was where the stairs were, and when you took them they led you down to the pool.

It was a HUGE pool. Looking to be at_ least_ 12 feet deep, it had a built-in waterfall that reached to the ceiling and had a diving board that was a good 25 feet in the air. It was surrounded by more marble and glass walls, allowing just the right amount of sunlight, therefore, they could see even without electricity. The floor surrounding the pool had tanning chairs that were strategically placed under real trees that seemed to grow right out of the ground.

It was a swimming area befitting of a billionaire.

Everyone gawked out the glass walls of the small room. "That, my friends, is a _big_ bathtub," boomed Thor.

"Must you _always_ flaunt your money Tony?" sighed Steve, giving said billionaire a reproachful look. Expecting a snarky reply, he was shocked when Tony ignored him. In fact, Tony seemed to have all his attention on the pool, eyes slightly wide and unfocused. "Hey,...Tony-" he began, but at that moment Clint bellowed:

"LAST ONE IN THE WATER HAS DISHES FOR A WEEK!" and took off down the stairs. Thor barreled past Steve, grabbing Loki round the waist (who started hissing and cursing in a language Steve could not recognize), slinging him over his shoulder in the process. Thor, Loki and Clint ended up in a shoving match all the way down, Loki trying to get out of Thor's grasp and Thor and Clint trying to beat each other. In their haste Clint's foot got snagged on Thor's, and all three of them ended up falling down the stairs.

Natasha calmly made her way past Steve. She took the stairs one at a time, going at a deliberately slow pace. Stepping over Thor and Clint, who were now groaning and trying unsuccessfully to untangle themselves, she made her way to the pool. Loki had somehow been thrown off Thor's shoulder as Thor fell, and had officially been the first in the water. He had resurfaced absolutely furious, green fire clear in his eyes.

Still mumbling curses, Loki slicked back his hair and gave Natasha a glare that said 'you say _anything_ and you will regret it'.

Natasha blinked, but could not help the smirk that wormed its way on to her face. He snarled at her, and swam in the other direction.

She unwrapped the towel from around her, revealing her black bikini, and stepped into the pool, letting a small smile of pleasure form as the cool water hit her warm skin. Splaying her arms out on the edge of the pool, she leaned back, closed her eyes, and enjoyed the moment...for a mere second before Thor went and did a cannon ball into the pool. A huge wave came at her, and she barely had enough time to take a breath before she was hit by the water.

"Thor, you_ big oaf_, you almost_ hit_ me," spat Loki, who still wore a furious glare about the previous event.

"I am sorry brother, but Clint had told me of this 'cannon ball' and I needed to try it," explained Thor, who apparently thought that explanation sufficed, because he wore a self-satisfied grin. Loki, however, found his grin irritating.

"Well,_ brother_, not everything that is told to you is a test to see how _annoying_ you can be," Loki growled. Thor scoffed and splashed water at him. It was barely a hit, but Loki's eyes took on a mischievous, and slightly murderous glint, and him and Thor started an all out war of splashing, dunking, and wrestling.

Natasha had watched the exchange with an air slightly humming with anger, annoyance and amusement, but was distracted when a beach ball entered the water in front of her. Turning, she saw Clint running towards her, wearing a rather childish grin on his face.

"Nat, lets see who can keep the ball in the air the longest," he said. Natasha wanted nothing more than just to relax, but seeing the hopeful look on Clint's face got her to waver, and she couldn't help but laugh and play along.

"Alright, but when_ I_ win _you_ are buying ice cream," she said. Clint smile and jumped into the pool, and they started hitting at the ball.

Only Tony, Steve and Bruce remained in the upper section.

"Well guys, its five o' clock somewhere. Want a drink?" asked Tony as he made his way over to the bar. He frowned when he saw that the bar wasn't stocked. "HEY! There is no drinks here!"

"A blessing in disguise," mumbled Bruce, but Tony heard and shot him a look. Clearing his throat, Bruce tried to calm him down. "You guys wanna join everyone else in the pool?"

"I'm game, once I get a drink," mumbled Tony, and sat on the couch with a pout on his face.

"_Tony_, let's just go down with everyone else," said Steve, and was also shot a look by Tony. "Well, _fine_! Be that way! I hope you enjoy doing dishes for the next week! Come on Bruce, let's go." And with that, Steve stormed down the stairs.

Bruce glanced at Tony, who still sat on the couch, but was now looking down at the pool with a glint in his eyes Bruce could not really place. Sighing, he got up and followed Steve down the stairs. Moments later you could hear Steve's voice join in the yelling, and Bruce's rumble from his low speech.

Tony sat. And sat . And sat. Truth was, he didn't want a drink. Okay, that was a lie. But, that was not what was keeping him rooted to the couch, pouting like a child.

Suddenly Clint's voice rang out. "TONY HAS DISHES!"

Rolling over to where he laid on the couch, Tony gave a sigh of frustration. "Who cares about swimming anyways?" he grumbled to no one in particular.

The only reply was the laughs from the other Avengers down below, having fun without him.

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**Okay, so once again, I had no clear idea what was going to happen in this chapter. I just kinda went with whatever appeared on my computer screen.**

**Also! Envisioning a pool room fit for a billionaire was harder than I thought. Ya see, I grew up in the ghetto, so my idea of a fancy pool is anything that does not take manual labor to blow up. Haha, so, excuse me if some of you have fancier pools than what I gave Tony. **

**Review and critique please!~ **

**P.S**

**Do y'all still want this chapter to go down the friendly/humor route with a bit of angst? **

**P.S.S**

**Any ideas for a new fic?**


	3. Chapter 3

**So I am not to sure how I feel about this chapter. :/ Oh well. Hey! This drunk driver hit an electrical pole and caused my neighborhood's power to go out for a day. And I live in Texas. The heat man! We went swimming though. Haha, reminded me of this story. :P Enjoy~ **

**OH! And thanks to all those who favorited, followed and reviewed! I love y'all!~**

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Right now Tony strongly felt like he was _wasting_ his time sulking on a couch in a room that he never should have agreed to.

He blamed Pepper.

When she had asked for a room with a pool, he was ready to shoot that idea down mercilessly. He had even had the "Oh,_ hell_ NO!" on the tip of his tongue, his mouth starting to open to release them.

Then she had given him the 'look' and all thoughts of disappointing her and thinking of himself went out the window, along with any hope of staying away from big enclosing of water. He knew she was just thinking of a way to help him, but he did not like it. Taking showers was bad enough to get used to. For the first couple months after Afghanistan he would force his eyes open under the current even when he had soap streaming into them. He would keep the glass door of the shower open so it would not feel like he was trapped, unable to escape the onslaught of water. After coming out, his hands would be so badly shaking that he visibly had to take deep breaths to calm himself down. And that was just a freakin' _shower_.

Nevertheless, he submitted to her and added the designs for it to the last blueprints of the tower, but had it built-in the lower part that way he could just forget about it, and hoped that Pepper would also. It had worked, but for far to short a time. Well, he doubted that Pepper had forgotten about it. She had an impeccable memory. But she had been so busy with meetings and deadlines and business stuff that he had lucked out.

The laughs from everyone drifted up to him. He scowled and rolled over, facing the back of the couch and away from the view of the pool. "At least when everyone was roasting everyone was roasting _together_," he mumbled darkly. Suddenly he yawned. Realizing that he had not gotten a decent sleep for a while, and he wasn't going to be doing anything any time soon, he begrudgingly shut his eyes and let the voices of his team mates lull him to sleep.

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"It was an_ accident_! I was aiming at Thor..."

"Barton, you have the skill of perfect aim. You hit me on _purpose_," growled Loki.

After Clint had lost for the umpteenth time, Natasha decided to just relax on one of the tanning chairs in the shade of a tree. When Steve and Bruce had come down from upstairs, Bruce had opted to just dip his feet in, while Steve joined in on helping Loki take Thor down.

So that left Clint alone, and bored. Therefore, when Thor had tossed Loki from him into the water, Clint had grabbed the beach ball and aimed for the spot where he believed the god would resurface. Luck was on his side, because Loki did indeed come up at that spot and ended up getting hit on the head by the ball.

"Don't blame _me_ just because you decided to resurface at the exact moment I threw the ball at Thor," said Clint, putting his hand over his heart, barely keeping a look of innocence on his face.

"I do not even have to be the God of Lies to know how much of a _pathetic_ excuse of a fabrication that statement is! Thor was on the other side of you!" snarled Loki. Clint winced.

"Whoops," he said sheepishly, and began to hastily swim away as Loki started after him.

"So guys, when do you think Tony will stop pouting and come down here," asked Natasha. Steve had told them why Tony was not with him and Bruce when they came down.

Loki was to consumed with catching Clint to give a reply, and Clint was trying with all his might to stay away from Loki, so he did not hear her.

Steve, however, did and scoffed. "Who knows. That man is infuriating. He would rather sulk over a missed drink than be down here with us," he grumbled and in his anger he shoved Thor a little to roughly under the water. Thor responded by grabbing Steve's feet and causing him to tumble underneath too. They both resurfaced moments later.

"I do not think Tony would reject the team over something so childish as a drink," interjected Bruce from where he was sitting. Steve looked like he was about to argue on that, but Thor's eyes took on a mischievous glint and he cut Steve off with his booming voice.

"If he will not come down willingly, then I shall _make_ him!" he declared, and began to make his way to the edge of the pool. By that time Loki had already extracted his revenge on Clint, and they both had joined the group.

"I do not think that would be wise, Thor," commented Loki, giving Thor a wary glance.

"Nonsense brother. The Man of Iron should be having fun with us, his friends," said Thor, brushing off Loki's words with a wave of his hand, getting out of the pool.

"I wanna come too!" yelled Clint, and chased after Thor.

"Guys, I think Loki is right. Maybe we should just leave him," Bruce said, but Thor was already running up the stairs, Clint not far off behind.

"What harm could it do to have him actually be part of the team?" asked Steve, giving Bruce and Loki a rather reproachful look.

"You are as much of a _fool_ as my brother," commented Loki, returning Steve's look with one of his own. Steve was just about to ask what he meant when he heard a yelp from upstairs. Seconds later Thor appeared at the top of the steps with Tony slung over his shoulder, similar to what he did Loki an hour or two ago, except him and Clint were taking the stairs noticeably slower.

"PUT ME _DOWN_!" yelled the disheveled billionaire, trying in vain to wiggle out of Thor's grasp.

"Tony, you can sleep later. Have some fun!" said Clint, and patted Tony on the head.

Tony's eyes widened as his sleep induced brain realized what they were planning, and he started frantically kicking and hitting at Thor. "Guys, seriously, NOT COOL!"

Natasha watched them come down with a slight smirk. Steve laughed and bore a smile on his face. Loki and Bruce on the other hand wore different expressions. While Bruce was of weary concern, Loki's took on one of frustration. Swimming over to the edge, he got out and met Thor as he made it to the base of the stairs.

"You are making a_ mistake _Thor. For once,_ listen to me_," he snarled, trying to halt Thor's steps to the pool by pushing at his chest.

"Brother, the water will do no harm. It is just a friendly jest," said Thor, and barreled his way past Loki. Loki growled, running a hand through his hair in aggravation. In a moment of weakness while deeply intoxicated Stark had let it slip to him that he was afraid of water, and then made him swear not to tell anyone. Loki cared little about keeping promises, but he felt like this was something the inventor should reveal, not him.

But the _insufferable fool_ was not saying anything about his fear. Instead, he was just yelling, and doing a rather poor attempt at harming Thor.

"What has got you so worked up," asked Natasha, walking up next to him and Clint, who had stopped a few feet off from Loki. By then, Thor was a mere ten feet from the pool, and Loki could see Tony was growing desperate.

"Yeah. I would think at how much Tony loves to mess with you that you would be enjoying this," commented Clint, who was keeping his eyes trained on the scene.

"_Nothing_," he snapped, and crossed his arms. If Stark was too proud to tell them, then he could suffer, he decided.

Meanwhile, Tony was actually beyond desperate. He could hear his heart beat and feel his blood pounding. His breaths were coming out in short gasps, and he had a strong urge to hurl. "Stop! _Don't_! Put me down!" he wheezed out. His heart dropped when Thor laughed.

"The water is fun. You will like it"

Tony knew he most certainly would_ not_. In a last-ditch attempt Tony threw Loki a pleading glance, but the god gave him a pointed look. '_You will cause your own suffering because of your pride_', it all but sneered, and Tony cringed. He had not even want to tell Pepper, but she had noticed how he tended to go weeks without showers. She had literally dragged him to the shower, and that didn't turn out to well. That was how she found out. And Loki was just a stupid mistake.

Now they were at he edge of the pool, and Thor had shifted his hold on him to one that was just about to toss him into the water. Tony squawked a protest and clawed at Thor's back, but did nothing to deter Thor's determination.

Shoving down his pride, he managed to get out, "Stop! I do not like the water! STOP! PLEASE! _I AM AFRAID OF WATER_!" past his wheezing, but his voice had come out in a whisper, so only Thor heard, and of course Loki with his godly hearing.

Thor halted, and Tony gave a sigh of relief. He would take losing his dignity any day than having an unwanted dive into that pool. After a few pregnant seconds Tony wriggled in Thor's arms."You want to let me down? Preferably on solid ground?" Tony wheezed out, still trying to get his erratic heart beat and breathing under control. Thor complied, and Tony found his feet hitting solid ground. He looked down, and saw that he was only a good foot from the edge of the pool. Running a shaking hand over his beard and through his hair, he gave out a shaky, almost crazed laugh. He had stopped Thor, but it ended up being too close a call for his liking.

Suddenly he heard Loki shout, "Barton, STOP!". He looked up and over his shoulder to see Clint running right at him, Loki making to try to stop him, but he was a moment to late. Clint ran past the confused Thor and slammed right into Tony, pushing him the rest of the way and causing them both to fall over the edge, hitting the cold water and sinking beneath.

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**Yeah, so one more chapter. :P Review and Critique. Oh! And keep the ideas for new fics coming.~**


	4. Chapter 4

**You would not believe how much of a hassle this chapter was to write. I could not keep on a good track in my head, and everything was just being jumbled around. Kept on getting a lot of ideas, but no good ones. I am still not happy with this chapter. I hope you guys remotely like it. :/**

**Another thing, I keep on saying"one more chapter, one more chapter". Yeah well, I am not saying that anymore. -_- cuz, this is still not the last chapter! :( Goshnips!**

**Thank you to all who favorited, followed, and especially reviewed this fic. I read them all, and I appreciate them greatly~ Y'all are the best. :)**

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The moment Tony's feet left solid ground he knew there would be no stopping the fall into the water. He also knew that the water was from_ his_ own pool in _his_ own house. He was _not_ in Afghanistan. He was _not_ in danger. He was _not_ being held against his will. He was safe. _He was safe._

It was futile to tell himself all this though, because no amount of mental chiding and prepping helped.

It was all forgotten as he was swallowed by the water.

For the first couple seconds, Tony's body had instantly stiffened under the water. Then, just as quickly, he started to thrash his arms and legs, working them furiously as he tried swimming upwards. His mind was _screaming_ at him to swim_ faster_; to get out of the water _now_. Flailing madly for what seemed like much to long, he finally broke the surface. Dots were floating in front of his eyes, affecting him vision, but he did not dare wait for them to clear. Blood was rushing past his ears, making it hard for him to hear, but he knew he was well past hyperventilating. He could feel it. His lungs were not receiving enough air. No matter. Ground. _Ground_. He _needed_ out of the water.

He blindly threw his hands out to find the edge. They brushed something solid, and he latched on to it, but the few milliseconds of momentary relief was short-lived as the felt a rumble run through his hands. A laugh made its way past the numbness surrounding his brain and firm hands gripped his shoulders. He flinched harshly and tried to push away, but the hands held their grip, and he felt himself being pushed down.

"No!" he screamed, but it came out seconds to late. It was swallowed by the water as his head was pushed back under. He tried to fight back to the surface, but his captor was holding him down.

No...wait...captor? Something in his mind fought against that label, like it was wrong, but it was overwhelmed by the sheer fact that they were _not. letting. him. go!_

His fight or flight mode finally kicked in, and with a full vengeance. He started swinging his closed fists powered by pure desperation through wide arcs in the water. He was choking on water, and his lungs felt like they were going to burst, but he didn't care. His body was becoming heavy, and he slowly felt the lull of unconsciousness pulling at him, but he ignored it. He needed to get _away_. They were going to keep this up until he broke. _The pain_. The pain of not breathing. The pain of the _electricity_. It was going to come! They had not covered the wires! Any second he was going to get shocked! God! It was going to keep on, like an endless cycle. He needed away. _Away!_

The hands that were on his shoulders seemed to get ripped away by some unseen force, but before he could act rationally on that thought something grabbed his left side. Jerking, he realized he could not pull away, so he poured all his energy into his right arm. His fist broke the water and slammed hard into a solid mass, and the registered thought of cracking under his fist floated through his oxygen deprived mind. The hands holding onto him was gone, but no amount of thrashing this time was getting him to the surface. His eyesight was giving out. His body was failing to respond. More water poured into his lungs as he yelled under water out of frustration. To be_ so close,_ and then to go out like this?

Suddenly he felt hands grab his arms, pulling him up. "NO!" he thought, but his hands would not comply with his wish to pry off the fingers. Heck, his arms would not even move. He was jerked upwards, and his head broke the surface.

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Steve could not help the smile that split his face as Clint broke the surface, laughing like a kid who had just seen Santa's workshop. Tony had not surfaced yet, which he found a little odd, but the pool was deep and Clint had used a lot of force to get Tony into the water. Tony had probably been close to hitting the bottom of the pool. Shrugging, he turned, looking for Bruce to tell him a well-earned "I told you so", but seeing Loki's face of pure anger had wiped his smile clean off and made him forget of what he was going to say. "Loki, what is wrong?"

Natasha heard Steve and slid her gaze away from the scene and studied Loki with an air of contemplation, an eyebrow raised slightly.

Instead of receiving a reply, Loki broke into a run, reaching the edge of the pool in record time."_Barton, you mindless imbecile_!" he snarled, trying hard to reign in his magic that was sparking from his fingertips.

Clint stopped laughing, and turned, scowling at Loki. "What? It's not like_ you_ didn't want to do it too, so don't try to act all high and mighty," he said, and stuck out his tongue. Loki's eyes flashed a murderous, bright green, the magic sparking from his fingertips becoming more noticeable. Before he could reply though Tony broke the surface.

Six pair of eyes found themselves locked on to Tony. Almost immediately everybody saw something was wrong. Tony wasn't smiling. He wasn't trying to get revenge. He wasn't even mad. He wasn't being _Tony_. He had a glazed, wild look in his eyes, his breath was coming in short gasps and his movements were frantic and desperate.

"Clint, I think you should-," began Bruce, but did not have time to finish his sentence.

Apparently everyone had not included Clint. As Tony latched on to him, he laughed and pushed the inventor back under.

"NO!" yelled Natasha, who had pieced everything together in the seconds Tony was above water. "Clint, get him out! Get him out _NOW_!"

"_What_ is your guy's deal? It's just a-" but before he could finish Loki had jumped in and pushed him away from Tony, using enough force to send him back a couple of feet and under the water. He resurfaced seconds later, sputtering and coughing. "HEY" he yelled, but his protest died on his lips at the scene before him.

Natasha was yelling orders from the edge of the pool as Steve joined her, looking awkward and unsure. Bruce, Thor, and Loki had surrounded where Tony had been submerged, and looked to be having problems. Loki was growling, trying hard to get a good hold on Tony as Bruce and Thor attempted to grab his flailing limbs.

"Why did Tony have to build such a deep pool!?" complained Bruce as he tried to get to Tony while staying above water.

"I am victorious!" bellowed Thor. He had successfully dove under and had grasped Tony's left arm and leg, coming up with a flailing Tony in tow. Bruce did not have time to catch Tony's right hand as he swung it with full force. It caught Thor in the face, sending him back a good foot or two with a yelp of pain. He came up, holding a hand on his face as blood slowly seeped through his fingers. Tony had began to splash water everywhere, hitting Loki and Bruce in the face, blinding them. Loki snarled an incoherent noise and furiously wiped the water out of his face.

"That is enough Stark!" hissed Loki, and with a sudden burst of determination wrapped his hands around Tony's arms, finally getting a good hold. Quickly swimming to the edge, him and Bruce lifted Tony up on to the edge of the pool, where Steve grabbed him and pulled him back a few feet. As soon as Steve let Tony go he started heaving up water, shaking as he coughed and sputtered.

"What's wrong with him?" asked Clint, who had finally recovered and had swam over to join them, getting out of the water.

"Why did he react so...badly?" added Steve, giving a concern look down at Tony. Deciding he would try to comfort him, he tried to put his hand on Tony's shoulder, but as soon as his hand had touched Tony he flinched and bolted back like he had been shocked.

_"GET AWAY FROM ME!"_ yelled Tony, voice broken from the abuse his lungs must have been through. He swung out a fist, narrowly missing Steve's outstretched hand. Scrambling to his feet, his eyes darting around, but the group noticed that they were still distant and glazed over, seeing things that they could not. Bruce went to stop him, but Tony was quicker and dodged his hand. In the process of doing that though, Tony's legs gave out, and he ended up falling to the floor.

"Tony, we are not your enemy," Natasha softly said, kneeling down in front of the fallen billionaire, but he did not comprehend her words as he turned his head and eyed her with impossibly wide eyes. He hastily moved to a sitting position, and scrambled back, knocking into one of the chairs.

"STAY _AWAY!_" he yelled again, and put his hands over his head, curling into himself, shaking so badly that one would think he was shivering from below zero temperature. Clint and Steve frowned, and looked to want to move closer, but Loki stopped them with his curt words.

"Do not crowd him, you half-wits. It will only make things worse."

Steve's frown deepened. "You talk as if you know what is going on. What_ is_ going on, Loki?"

Loki's eyes were trained on Tony. Technically he had told them, so he did not see the problem in just saying it louder. "Stark was tortured once, which left him afraid of water."

The room was silent, all noise ceasing to exist except for the labored breathing coming from the still huddled Tony. Finally, Clint broke the silence. Eyes filled with sudden guilt, and he looked like he was struggling with a sudden thought. "So,...the joke...it was.." he whispered.

"It was a trigger," finished Natasha, looking at Tony with a shocking amount of concern. Loki sighed, stepping forward towards the shaking inventor.

"Hey, I thought you said.." began Steve, looking warily at the god, but said god shot him an annoyed look, shutting up any form of protest that was about to leave Steve's mouth.

"The one who kept pushing him down, and the one who encouraged it from the beginning. It would mean_ so much_ to Stark to be comforted by the likes of you two," snapped Loki, sarcasm dripping from his words. Steve and Clint looked at each other, then down at the floor, guilt etched into every fiber of their being. Loki huffed, looking satisfied, then turned back to Tony.

"Stark," began Loki, crouching down in front of him. Tony gave no sign of hearing him, still holding his head in his arms. "Stark, you are safe. Everything is fine. You are not in the water anymore. You are fine." Still receiving no response, Loki grumbled in aggravation. He clenched and unclenched his hands, then ran them through his hair. Finally, he decided that soothing words would do nothing but possibly make things worse. Grabbing Tony's arms, tore his hands away from his head and held on even as Tony flinched and tried to pull away; even as he kicked out and caught him in the stomach. "Stark! _Look at me_!"

Loki could not say if Tony had understood him or not, but Tony turned his wide eyes towards Loki's direction, short breaths becoming even more impossibly short, and his shaking slightly more pronounced. Loki's eyes softened a fraction. He may find the man annoying beyond measure, but he was the first to truly accept him into their little ragtag group of misfits. And he understood the scarring effects of torture himself. He leaned in, making sure that his movements were slow and visible. "Tony," whispered Loki, releasing his arms "everything is fine. You_ truly_ are safe."

It took a few seconds longer than what Loki would have liked, but Tony's eyes lost their unfocused look, and brown eyes locked with green ones. Loki saw many emotions flicker through those brown eyes, the more dominant ones being relief that was quickly replaced by shame and anger.

"Tony...," Bruce started, but he really didn't know what to say. To see his best friend break down so badly, and he could do nothing to help, had left him feeling utterly useless and worthless. Still, he tried. "Tony, do you need help standing up?"

Tony moved his eyes from Loki's upwards to the rest of the team. His gaze moved slowly over each face, and ended on Clint's, where it stayed a few seconds more than on everyone else's, and Clint started to shift uncomfortably under Tony's scrutiny.

"Friend, are you...do you require assistance?" Thor asked, and could not help the mental flinch when Tony's gaze fell back to him. Still, Tony did not say anything.

Natasha was not one to feel unnerved or uncomfortable, but the uncharacteristic silence that Tony had fell into was starting to get to her."Tony, say something."

Tony sat for a few seconds more, then shakily pushed himself back up on to his feet. Steve moved to help, but the look that Tony gave him stopped him in his tracks. He turned, facing the stairs.

"Tony, I think you should sit and rest," said Steve, but Tony started walking, completely ignoring him.

"Tony!" yelled Clint, running up and trying to block the billionaire. It was effective, for Tony paused in his steps. Clint breathed a sigh of relief and nervously ran a hand across his chin and looked down at the floor. "Tony, I...I mean..the water...and you...well, I did not think you would react that way. Nobody did. Well, except _Loki_ over there," Clint said, shooting the god a glare. "It was supposed to be a joke. A harmless joke." Looking up, he tried for a smile. "And really, why do you even have a pool if you are afraid of water?"

Clint was confused when he saw anger and hurt in Tony's eyes. Tony pushed past him, and started up the stairs. Clint, still confused, did not follow, and watched as Tony entered the room upstairs and continued on to the door where they had entered. He opened the door and left, not once looking back at them.

"Did I say something wrong?" he asked, turning back towards the others. Loki scoffed, and crossed his arms, an annoyed look gracing his features.

"Barton, you _truly_ are mindless."

* * *

**Yeah, okay. Now ya see what I mean when I say this chapter was not that great. I just hit a writer's block. A bad one too. :/ Sorry y'all. **

**And I really do think that this upcoming chapter will be the last one, but I am not promising it this time. I hope so though. Haha, like I said before, this was originally suppose to be a one-shot. Yeah, would have been one heck of a long of a one-shot. :/**

**Review and Critique. If any of y'all have an idea floating around in your head for a new fic, do not hesitate to PM me or leave it in a review. **


	5. Chapter 5

**With each follow and favorite, and occasional review, that entered my email I felt a tad bit more guilty that I couldn't figure out how to end this fic. So I finally just sat down, and forced myself to at least get _some_ creative juices flowing. It took a_ loooong_ while, but something finally clicked. **

**This was a fun fic to write. I had different plans for it initially. It was meant to be a one shot, for one. And the plot line was supposed to go in a different direction. But, I am happy with how it turned out none the less.**

**On a different note, have you guys seen the new image Marvel released for Thor The Dark World? It's pretty awesome. :D Go look it up~**

**You guys are awesome. I thank everyone who favorited and followed this. And I love everyone who reviewed. You words brought a smile to my face. :)**

**I truly hope you enjoy~**

* * *

_"There's some things in life you have to share. You have to have someone to lean on, and they'll help you get through."_

After Tony had left the room the team had fell into a deafening silence, each being consumed by various levels of guilt. All but Loki. He had decided that he wasn't at fault, and found pleasure in seeing each member squirm from their own guilt ridden thoughts. His amusement quickly dissipated when everyone came to a conclusion that the team as a whole needed to apologize.

"Must_ I_ be included in the task of apologizing to Stark?" grumbled Loki as he made his way up the stairs.

"_Yes_ Loki. Each one of us had a hand at causing what happened, whether intentional or not. You are _not_ excluded," snapped Steve, who had already reached the top of the stairs. He crossed his arms and gave the trickster god a stern look. Loki scowled, muttering something under his breath but kept quiet after that. Once everyone was in the upper part of the room, they looked at each other, then towards the door leading out.

"Where do you think Friend Tony has gone?" question Thor, glancing at the team with an unsure face.

"It's Tony. Where do you think?" quipped Natasha, still miffed at herself and letting it show in her words.

"I agree," said Bruce "He most likely went to the closest place with alcohol."

Steve also nodded his agreement and started towards the door. "Alright, then let's go back to the main living room." He opened the door, and was reminded that their was no electricity in the building. With everything that had went down he had forgotten. He briefly wondered how Tony had managed to maneuver in the dark before he snapped himself out of it. Standing around was getting them nowhere. "Loki, we need some light," he said, directing his statement over his shoulder. The next second a small orb appeared before him, and he started through. Thor and Bruce followed. Loki sighed, then followed too.

Natasha glanced back at Clint. He was staring intently at a spot beyond her, but she knew he was not really looking at it. He had been unnaturally quiet since Tony had left. "Clint,...we _all_ messed up. As Steve said, we are all to blame. It is _not_ just _your_ fault."

She did not think her words helped, but she did not like him beating himself up. After a few moments of silence she was about to walk out the door, not wanting to have to find her way in the dark and knowing Clint would follow. She hesitated when he started to speak, voice barely above a whisper.

"I was the one who pushed him in. Thor had sat him down...kept him out of the water. You, Bruce, and Steve...you guys had no part in it. Loki even tried to stop it from happening. I, Nat,_ I_ made him fall into the water. I agree with Loki. Him, you, everybody else...you guys have no real blame in this. It was all _me_."

Natasha noticed that with each sentence Clint spoke he grew more agitated, running his hands through his hair harshly and making wild gestures with them. When he had finished he had practically worked himself up into a full panic, eyes clearly conveying the guilt and fear that he was feeling. Guilt over what happened, and fear of what was to come.

"Clint," she began, voice equally as soft as she moved closer, " You are wrong. It was Thor's idea to bring him down. Steve, Bruce and I did do nothing. But not the nothing you are implying. We did not try to stop you two at all. We all thought it would be okay to throw him into the pool. And Loki knew. He _knew_, and yet he did not say anything. So Clint, it is_ not_ just your fault." While she had said this she had put both her hands on each side of his face, making him look at her. She saw something flicker in his eyes with her words. Something akin to longing. Hope. He wanted to believe her, but until things were fixed with Tony he couldn't. She could understand that. "Come on," she said, nudging him towards the door, "Let's go set things right."

* * *

They did not find Tony near the bar. He was not at the couches. He was nowhere in the living area. So, after brief deliberation the team decided to split up, each taking an orb of light to help.

"Just tap on the light when you find Stark. I will sense it and direct the other's lights to where he is," explained Loki. Everyone murmured an okay and went their separate ways.

That was how Clint found himself on the roof of the tower. Tapping hard at the stupid ball of light. In fact, he was practically beating at the thing. "Stupid Loki," he thought darkly. The infuriating god probably knew it was Clint, and was purposely taking forever to lead the other's to him. He had found Tony standing near the railing of the roof, surprisingly without drink in hand, but Clint wanted at least Natasha there before he spoke up. He scowled at the glowing orb of light. Maybe he should try to find someone himself. His thoughts were suddenly cut off by the sound of Tony's voice, and he jumped slightly, casting a wary glance towards the inventor.

"For a master assassin, you are failing at trying to stay undetected."

Clint frowned. Tony's voice held no snark to it. No joke. No sarcasm. No nothing. Was just empty, flat, and dead. Tony continued to stare out at New York, and Clint awkwardly ran his hand across the back of his neck. He decided to move closer to where he was only a couple of feet back from Tony, then attempted to speak. His voice cracked, and he hastily cleared his throat. Before he could try again Tony spoke up, silencing him.

"Listen, I do not want your pity. Nor do I need it. I'm fine. You can go back to the pool."

Clint winced at the only emotion laced in those words: anger. "He has every right to be angry at you," he mentally chided himself. "I," he began, then cleared his throat again. "Uh, I did not say I was going to pity you for what happened. I want to apologize."

"It's fine. I'm fine. Apology accepted. You can go now," quickly responded Tony, along with a wave of his hand signaling the want for Clint's departure. Clint gritted his teeth, tension building at the base of his neck and through his shoulders.

"That_ hardly_ sounded like you accepted my apology Tony. I don't think everything is fine," Clint gritted out, trying hard to resist clenching his fists in aggravation. Tony suddenly whipped around, pointing an accusatory finger at Clint.

"Do not try to play doctor with me!" he snarled, taking a few steps towards the archer. At that Clint did ball his hands into fists, and he could not keep his own anger out of his voice.

"That's not even _close_ to what I am trying to do Tony! I want to make things right," he snapped back, then visibly tried to calm himself. After a few seconds he breathed out, "I want to help."

Tony halted in his steps, blinking at what Clint said. Confusion crossed Tony's features, which then turned into wariness. He cocked his head at Clint, narrowing his eyes. "Help? As if you understood," he spat, turning, moving back towards the railing. Clint took a deep breath, then closed the distance, moving to Tony's right side. He kept his eyes trained on some near by building as he worked up enough courage to speak.

"It was 13 years ago," he finally said. He felt Tony look at him, but he didn't meet his gaze. Didn't so much as flicker his eyes in his direction. He just keep looking at the building, focusing solely on that rooted structure. " I was careless in hiding my steps. It was a rookie mistake, but it cost me dearly. I was captured by the enemy while working undercover. They caught me off guard. There was too many. They drugged me then took me to some abandoned warehouse out in the middle of nowhere," he paused, memories flooding back. He thought he heard Tony start to protest against his speaking, but it was a distant sound and he forced himself to continue before Tony stopped him.

"My leg was badly broken in the scuffle, and I had lost my bow in the attempt to fight them off. So, I could not run nor could I attack. They blindfolded and gagged me, hung me by the rafters, then beat me until I could no longer register the pain. I could not tell how long I was there. The blindfold not only kept me from seeing when the blows came, or who was distributing them, but from telling time. It disoriented me, left me guessing at what would come next. I kept on expecting them to get bored and finally do away with me. To kill me. I could not tell when they had left, but they had. All I knew was the darkness the blindfold gave me. Every little noise had me bracing myself for another hit. A splash of water would cause me to jump harshly. The skittering of a mouse would get me shaking. The blow of the wind through the cracks and holes in the walls had me yelling and pleading against the gag." He narrowed his eyes, pushing off the unease that he was feeling and trying hard to reign in the sudden urge to punch something, arms shaking from the effort. It had been so long since he relived these memories. But he kept talking. Tony needed to know he understood.

"When Natasha and some other SHIELD agents finally found the location of that God forsaken place I was a mess not only physically, but mentally. My brain didn't register that it was familiar voices speaking to me, so when they touched me to get me down I had reacted badly. It was when the blindfold was ripped off my face that I finally understood that I was being saved. They had told me that they caught the men, and the mission was a success. That I was going to be alright. But it was like it was all a dream. When I got back I thought if I just stayed with some sort of light constantly near me then everything would be okay. After I got released from the medical ward I started sleeping outside, and when I was questioned I gave some flimsy excuse. They bought it. I went out of my way to avoid any type of situations in where I would be placed in darkness. It worked, until one day the lights went out during a debriefing. The room we were in was meant for top-secret cases, meaning it was built for as much privacy as possible. That means windows were not included. It was only for a few seconds at most, but I lost it." Clint took a deep breath, eyebrows slightly scrunching together in thought. "I still can't handle the dark," he finally breathed out. After a few seconds he cleared his throat, tearing his eyes off the building and moving them towards the ground. "So,... I know. I get it. I understand." He moved his gaze back up, eyes clear and honest, locking with Tony's. "I _swear_ to you Tony, I would _never_ had done that would I had known."

Tony's anger had slowly faded away during Clint's story, leaving behind the strong feelings of embarrassment and shame. "Yeah,...yeah I know. I just...I did not think I would react that badly. I mean, sure there was times after I got back, but never to that extinct. Heck, I thought I was over it," he said, rubbing at his neck. "I...well, everyone was treating me like I was on a thin wire. Like-"

"Like a totally different person that would break if you touched them?" finished Clint. Tony gave him a wry smile.

"Exactly like that," he sighed.

Clint nodded, then grew somber. "Really Tony. I am sorry." Tony glanced at him, anger completely gone. He looked like he was about to say something, but at that moment everyone else barreled through the door.

"Friend Tony!" bellowed Thor "There you are!" He ran over and picked Tony up, giving him a big hug, making Tony yelp in protest. "I am _soooo_ sorry! I did not mean to cause you harm."

"Yeah, uh-huh, okay. Now put me down," replied Tony, and Thor was quick to comply.

"I also am sorry. I should have realized sooner," said Natasha as she joined the small group. She was soon followed by Steve and Bruce.

"I am sorry too. As leader, I had the authority to make them stop. I didn't," said Steve, looking ashamed.

"I didn't try hard enough. Sorry Tony," added Bruce.

Last to join was Loki, who still looked miffed. "I apologize also," he mumbled, glaring a Steve who had given him an approving nod.

Tony looked at everyone, then sighed. "No, I should have told you guys. It was my fault." He paused, running a hand roughly across his beard then took a deep breath. "It's just, I thought things were fine. I thought I had grown immune to the fear. I did not think anyone needed to know how much of a wimp I am."

"Tony, having PTSD does_ not_ make you a wimp," Bruce said, giving the inventor a compassionate but stern look.

"I agree with Bruce. And I think I speak for everyone when I say that having it does not make you any less of a man. Any less of our friend. You are part of this team, and we will always be here to help," Clint added, giving a small smile as Tony looked at him.

Tony slowly moved his gaze over everybody else, and felt warmth spread through him. He wasn't alone in this. They didn't find him broken, or weak, or unfixable. They didn't pity him, or treat him like he was a ticking time bomb.

They treated him like part of the team. Like a friend. Like family.

A smile grew on his face, and he found tension that he didn't even know he had leave his shoulders. A weight that had been pressing down had disappeared. Tony started laughing, and at the confused looks that crossed the other's faces his laugh grew in volume. After a few moments Steve cleared his throat, attempting to catch Tony's attention.

"Uhh, Tony, you okay?"

Tony sobered, an occasional chuckle escaping every few seconds until all that was left was a soft smile. A calm peace flooded him. "Yeah Spangles, I am." He noticed Thor still giving him the puppy dog eyes, and his smile grew a little wider. "Oh what the heck. Come over here, Goldilocks," he said, spreading his arms signalling the okay for a hug. Thor's face lit up. He rushed over and immediately picked up the inventor. Tony responded with a loud, infectious laugh that melted away all the awkward wariness in the air. Soon everyone had joined in on the hug, albeit Steve had to practically drag Loki to be part of it.

They were friends. A team. A rag-tag, misfit, small group that had bonded together into some weird definition of a family. Yeah, families have problems, and they were not exempted from that, no matter how much super powers they had. But they were there for each other. To forgive when wronged and to listen and help when needed.

Tony grinned, deciding that he wouldn't want it any other way.

* * *

**So, what did you guys think? I really had a rough time trying to end this thing. Did y'all like it? I hope so. :/**

**Don't forget to look up the image! Haha, and be excited! The new trailer for Thor comes out Wednesday! XD**

**So, if y'all have any ideas do not be afraid to tell me them. I could include them into my other fic, or start a complete new one. **

**Enjoy your summer guys!~**


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